Chelsea & Tottenham battle for Christian Benteke

The future of Christian Benteke is likely to come down to a straight fight between London clubs Chelsea and Tottenham, according to the Daily Mail.

Benteke has been left behind from Villa's pre-season trip to Germany after formally requesting a transfer away from the Birmingham based club.

It has emerged that Chelsea and Spurs are to be his likely destinations, with Villa preferring Benteke to go to Chelsea, where the player himself would prefer a move to Spurs.

Villa believe Chelsea will weigh in with a more suitable offer for Benteke, which could possibly involve fellow Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku moving in the opposite direction in a player-plus-cash exchange.

The striker himself wants a move to Spurs as he feels he will be the number one striker at the north London club, allowing him ample game time to press his claims of being Belgium's first choice striker at next year's World Cup.

Spurs believe they will be able to force through a move near the completion of the transfer window for the striker, who Villa have slapped a £25m price tag on.

Chelsea are believed to be considering a bid immediately for the striker and is the sort of player that returning manager Jose Mourinho has preferred in the past.

Mourinho has used strong and mobile strikers in the past, firstly with Benny McCarthy at Porto and then Didier Drogba at Chelsea.

Mourinho feels that Benteke could perform a similar role in his second coming as Chelsea manager.

Spurs will need to get moving when it comes to signing a new striker as they have already missed out on some of their targets.

David Villa rebuffed Spurs advances and traded Barcelona for Atletico Madrid, while Spurs are believed to be falling short in their valuation for another Spanish hitman, Valencia's Roberto Soldado.

Spurs are believed to have offered in the region of £17m, while Valencia are wanting the full £25m that would trigger his release clause.

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DISCLAIMER

This article has been written by a member of the GiveMeSport Writing Academy and does not represent the views of
GiveMeSport.com or SportsNewMedia. The views and opinions expressed are solely that of the author credited at the top of this article.
GiveMeSport.com and SportsNewMedia do not take any responsibility for the content of its contributors.

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